Amorous Moose

You may think they're kidding, but they play like they're serious. From the hit single "Baby, I Love Your Rack" off their breakthrough album, Lovesick, to the non-stop energy of the concept album, Migration, the members of Amorous Moose work hard to hold their own among more anthropocentric rock bands. Recently, they made headlines with three upbeat, intense cuts all hitting the top 40 charts at the same time: "Like Green Moss," "Natural Salt Lick," and "Runnin' through the Taiga."

PhilSpore

Nobody knows what Phil is or how to identify his spore, but the band rocks. Their music runs the gamut from lovely protest a la U2 to angry slack a la Green Day. Great fun for music lovers.

Officially The

Clean-cut teeny boppers hearkening back to the 80s, Officially The presents upbeat ballads along the themes of boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-for-girl, boy-freaks-out. Some songs extol the virtue of best friends, lollipops, and shoes with wheels built into the soles, one of their few concessions to the modern era. Yuppie style is religiously adhered to in music videos and concert tours. Band members are replaced as soon as they appear to have mostly completed puberty.

Quivering Yak

A tight ensemble of ten men and women joined by the common thread of recovery from cults or escape from restrictive religious upbringings. Their music merges the ephemeral, wavering melodies of ecclesiastic chants with the hard-core bass line of post-industrial noise. Very high-class stuff.

The Constellation Prize

The Constellation Prize had their early roots as a high school garage band, made up of five prototypical geeks who figured they might actually get laid if their quit the computer club and turned their attention to popular music. Originally conceived as a Doors cover band, they eventually parlayed their not unsubstantial talent into haunting original music and clever, science-themed lyrics, most of which go right over their fans' heads.